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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional processes and the human mind as well as a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Published in 1962, the novel was adapted into a Broadway play by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Bo Goldman adapted the novel for the 1975 film directed by Miloš Forman, which won five Academy Awards. ''Time'' Magazine included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list. Synopsis The story, narrated by the gigantic but docile half-Native American inmate "Chief" Bromden, focuses on the antics of the rebellious Randle Patrick McMurphy, who faked insanity to serve out his prison sentence for statutory rape in the hospital. The head administrative nurse, Mildred Ratched, rules the ward with a mailed fist and with little medical oversight. She is assisted by her three black day-shift orderlies, and her assistant doctors. McMurphy constantly antagonizes Nurse Ratched and upsets the routines, leading to constant power struggles between the inmate and the nurse. He runs a card table, captains the ward's basketball team, comments on Nurse Ratched's figure, incites the other patients on the ward to conduct a vote on watching the World Series on television, and organizes an unsupervised deep sea fishing trip. His reaction after failing to lift a heavy shower room control panel (which he had claimed to be able to) – "But at least I tried." – gives the men incentive to try to stand up for themselves, to do their best instead of allowing Nurse Ratched to take control of everything they do. The Chief opens up to McMurphy and reveals late one night that he can speak and hear. A disturbance after the fishing trip results in McMurphy and the Chief being sent for electroshock therapy sessions, but even this experience does little to tamp down McMurphy's rambunctious behavior. One night, after bribing the night orderly, McMurphy breaks into the pharmacy and smuggles bottles of liquor and two prostitute girlfriends onto the ward. McMurphy persuades one of the women to seduce Billy Bibbit, a timid, boyish patient, with a terrible stutter and little experience with women, so that he can lose his virginity. Although McMurphy plans to escape before the morning shift arrives, he and the other patients fall asleep instead without cleaning up the mess and the staff finds the ward in complete disarray. Nurse Ratched finds Billy and the prostitute in each other's arms, partially dressed, and admonishes him. Billy asserts himself for the first time, answering Nurse Ratched without stuttering. Ratched calmly threatens to tell Billy's mother what she has seen. Billy has an emotional breakdown and, once left alone in the doctor's office, commits suicide by cutting his throat. Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy for the loss of Billy's life. Enraged at what she has done to Billy, McMurphy attacks her and attempts to strangle her to death and tears off her uniform, revealing her breasts to the patients and aides watching. He has to be dragged away from her and is moved to the Disturbed ward. Nurse Ratched misses a week of work due to her injuries, during which time many of the patients either transfer to other wards or check out of the hospital forever. When she returns, she cannot speak and is thus deprived of her most potent tool to keep the men in line. Most of the patients leave shortly after this event. Later, after Bromden, Martini, and Scanlon are the only original patients left on the ward, McMurphy is brought back in. He has received a lobotomy and is now in a vegetative state, silent and motionless. The Chief later smothers McMurphy with a pillow during the night in an act of mercy, before throwing the shower room control panel, the same one McMurphy could not lift earlier, through a window, and escaping the hospital. Background One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a direct product of Kesey's time working the graveyard shift as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California. Not only did he speak to the patients and witness the workings of the institution, he took psychoactive drugs including Mescaline and LSD as part of Project MKUltra. From this, he became sympathetic toward the patients. The novel constantly refers to different authorities that control individuals through subtle and coercive methods. The novel's narrator, the Chief, combines these authorities in his mind, calling them "The Combine" in reference to the mechanistic way they manipulate and process individuals. The authority of The Combine is most often personified in the character of "Nurse Ratched" who controls the inhabitants of the novel's mental ward through a combination of rewards and subtle shame. Although she does not normally resort to conventionally harsh discipline, her actions are portrayed as more insidious than those of a conventional prison administrator. This is because the subtlety of her actions prevents her prisoners from understanding that they are being controlled at all. The Chief also sees the Combine in the damming of the wild Columbia River at Celilo Falls, where his Native American ancestors hunted, and in the broader conformity of post-war American consumer society. The novel's critique of the mental ward as an instrument of oppression comparable to the prison mirrored many of the claims that French intellectual Michel Foucault was making at the same time. Similarly, Foucault argued that invisible forms of discipline oppressed individuals on a broad societal scale, encouraging them to censor aspects of themselves and their actions. The novel also criticizes the emasculation of men in society, particularly in the character of Billy Bibbit, the stuttering acute who is domineered by both Nurse Ratched and his mother. These and other interpretive threads are synthesized and analyzed in Peter Swirski's "You're Not in Canada until You Can Hear the Loons Crying or Voting, People's Power and Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"."You're Not in Canada until You Can Hear the Loons Crying or Voting, People's Power and Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest". American Utopia and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought and Political History. New York, Routledge 2011. Title The title of the book is a line from a nursery rhyme, Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn, Apple seed and apple thorn, Wire, briar, limber lock Three geese in a flock One flew East One flew West And one flew over the cuckoo's nest Chief Bromden's grandmother sang this song to him when he was young. Main characters * Chief Bromden: The novel's half-Native American narrator has been in the mental hospital since the end of World War II. Bromden pretends to be deaf and mute, and through this guise he becomes privy to many of the ward's dirtiest secrets. As a young man, the Chief was a high school football star, a college student, and a war hero. After seeing his father, a Native American chieftain, humiliated at the hands of the U. S. government and his (white) wife, Chief Bromden descends into clinical depression and begins hallucinating. Soon he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. He believes society is controlled by a large, mechanized system which he calls "The Combine." ** Richard Gray, author of A History of American Literature, said that Bromden "supplies" the novel's "vision."Gray 574?? Gray explains that Bromden's "eye" "sees the inner truth" and that Bromden "is an outsider, an innocent eye in a way like Huck Finn, but what he sees is far stranger, far more surreal." Gray explained that Bromden's vision "may not be literally true but it is symbolically so because, to quote Emily Dickinson again, "Much madness is divinest sense."" * Randle McMurphy: A rebellious convict sent from a normal prison. He is guilty of battery and gambling. He had also been charged with, but never convicted of, statutory rape. McMurphy is transferred from a prison work farm to the hospital, thinking it will be an easy way to serve out his sentence in comfort. In the end, McMurphy turns violent against Nurse Ratched, costing him his freedom, his health, and his life. The staff * Nurse Ratched (also known as "Big Nurse"): The tyrannical head nurse of the mental institution, who exercises near-total control over those in her care, including her subordinates. She will not hesitate to restrict her patients' access to medication, amenities, and basic human necessities if it suits her whims. Her informant is the timid Billy Bibbitt, whom she coerces into divulging the unit's secrets by threatening to complain about him to his mother. McMurphy's fun-loving, rebellious presence in Ratched's institution is a constant annoyance, as neither threats nor punishment nor shock therapy will stop him or the patients under his sway. Eventually, after McMurphy nearly chokes her to death in a fit of rage, Nurse Ratched has him lobotomized. However, the damage has already been done, and Nurse Ratched's rule is broken after McMurphy's attack leaves her nearly unable to speak, which renders her unable to intimidate her patients, subordinates and superiors. * The "Black Boys" Washington, Williams and Warren: Three black men who work as aides in the ward. Williams is a dwarf, his growth stunted after witnessing his mother being raped by white men. The Chief says Nurse Ratched hired them for their sadistic nature. * Dr. Spivey: The ward doctor. Nurse Ratched drove off other doctors, but she kept Spivey because he always did as he was told. Harding suggests that the nurse could threaten to expose him as a drug addict if he stood up to her. McMurphy's rebellion inspires him to stand up to Nurse Ratched. * Nurse Pilbow: The young night nurse. Her face, neck and chest are stained with a profound birthmark. She is a devout Catholic and presents symptoms of peccatophobia (fear of sinning or imaginary crimes). She blames the patients for infecting her with their evil and takes it out on them. * Mr. Turkle: An elderly African American aide who works the late shift in the ward. He agrees to allow McMurphy to host a party and sneak in prostitutes one night. The Acutes The acutes are patients who officials believe can still be cured. With few exceptions, they are there voluntarily. * Billy Bibbit: A nervous, shy and boyish patient with an extreme speech impediment, Billy cuts himself and has attempted suicide numerous times. To alleviate Billy's fear of women, McMurphy sneaks a prostitute into the ward so Billy can lose his virginity. The next morning, Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother; fearing the loss of his mother's love, Billy has an emotional breakdown and cuts his own throat. * Dale Harding: The unofficial leader of the patients before McMurphy arrives, he is an intelligent, good-looking man who's ashamed of his repressed homosexuality. Harding's beautiful yet malcontent wife is a source of shame for him. * George Sorensen: A man with germaphobia, he spends his days repeatedly washing his hands in the ward's drinking fountain. McMurphy manages to persuade him to lead a fishing expedition for the patients after discovering that he'd captained a PT boat during World War II. Afterward, the staff forcibly delouse him, knowing the mental anguish this causes him. * Charles Cheswick: A loud-mouthed patient who always demands changes in the ward, but never has the courage to see anything through. He finds a friend in McMurphy, who's able to voice his opinions for him. After McMurphy loses his confidence when he learns that his stay in the ward is indefinite, Cheswick drowns himself in the swimming pool. * Martini: A patient who suffers from severe hallucinations. * Scanlon: A patient obsessed with explosives and destruction, he's the only non-vegetative patient confined to the ward by force (aside from McMurphy and Bromden); the rest could leave at any time. * Sefelt and Fredrickson: Two epileptic patients. Jim Sefelt refuses to take his anti-seizure medication, as it makes his hair and teeth fall out; Bruce Fredrickson takes Sefelt's medication, because he's terrified of the seizures. * Max Taber: An unruly patient who was released before McMurphy arrived, the Chief recalls how, after questioning what was in his medication, Nurse Ratched had him "fixed." The Chronics The Chronics are patients who will never be cured. Many of the Chronics are in vegetative states. * Ruckly: A hell-raising patient who challenges the rules until his lobotomy. After the lobotomy, he sits and stares at a picture of his wife, and occasionally screams profanities. * Ellis: Ellis was put in a vegetative state by electroshock therapy. He stands against the wall in a disturbing messianic position with arms outstretched. * Pete Bancini: Bancini suffered brain damage at birth but managed to hold down simple jobs until he was institutionalized. The Chief remembers how once, and only once, he lashed out violently against the aides, telling the other patients that he was a living miscarriage, born dead. * Rawler: A patient on the Disturbed ward, above the main ward, who says nothing but "loo, loo, loo!" all day and tries to run up the walls. One night, Rawler castrates himself while sitting on the toilet and bleeds to death before anyone realizes what he has done. * Old Blastic: An old patient who is in a vegetative state. The first night McMurphy is in the ward, Bromden dreams Blastic is hung by his heel and sliced open, spilling his rusty visceral matter. The next morning it is revealed that Blastic died during the night. * The Lifeguard: An ex-professional football player, he still has the cleat marks on his forehead from the injury that scrambled his brains. He explains to McMurphy that, unlike prison, patients are kept in the hospital as long as the staff desires. * Colonel Matterson: The oldest patient in the ward, he suffers from severe senile dementia and cannot move without a wheelchair. He is a veteran of the First World War, and spends his days "explaining" objects through metaphor. Other characters * Candy: The prostitute that McMurphy brings on the fishing trip. Billy Bibbit has a crush on her and McMurphy convinces Candy to sleep with him. * Sandy: Another prostitute and friend of McMurphy. She and Sefelt sleep together. Sefelt has a seizure while they are having sexual intercourse. * Vera Harding: Dale Harding's wife. Film adaptation The novel was adapted into a play in 1963 and a film, starring Jack Nicholson and winning five Academy Awards, in 1975. It was also adapted in a 1986 Malayalam language film Thalavattam by Priyadarshan. The concept of the 2005 Bollywood movie Kyon Ki, starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor,was also taken from this novel. Further reading * L. Horst, Bitches, Twitches, and Eunuchs: Sex Role Failure and Caricature in Pratt, J, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Text and Criticism, Penguin Books (1996). * M.G. Porter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rising to Heroism, Boston: Twayne Publishers (1989). * E. Safer, The Contemporary American Comic Epic: The Novels of Barth, Pynchon, Gaddis, and Kesey, Detroit: Wayne State University Press (1988). Editions * ISBN 0-606-04239-3 (prebound, 1962) * ISBN 0-451-16396-6 (mass market paperback, 1963) * ISBN 0-14-004312-8 (paperback, 1977, reprint) * ISBN 0-14-023601-5 (hardcover, 1996) * ISBN 1-55651-685-1 (paperback, 1988) * ISBN 0-453-00815-1 (audio cassette, 1993, abridged) * ISBN 0-14-028334-X (paperback, 1999) * ISBN 0-8220-7154-1 (e-book, 1999) * ISBN 0-7645-8662-9 (paperback, 2000) * ISBN 0-7910-6339-9 (library binding, 2001) * ISBN 0-14-118122-2 (paperback, 2002) * ISBN 0-7910-7118-9 (paperback) * ISBN 0-330-23564-8 (paperback) * ISBN 0-14-118788-3 (paperback, 2005) * ISBN 0-14-303690-4 (hardcover, 2005) * ISBN 0-329-06383-9 (hardcover) * ISBN 978-1-59887-052-7 (audio cd, 2006, abridged/read by Kesey; includes Fresh Air with Terry Gross interview with author) * Photos of the first edition One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest References Category:1962 novels Category:20th-century American novels Category:American novels adapted into films Category:Debut novels Category:Fiction with unreliable narrators Category:Novels set in Oregon Category:Postmodern novels Category:Works by Ken Kesey Category:Novels set in hospitals